I actually haven't been on the courts much even without hurricanes Not sure what the latest models are predicting, but it's pretty certain that my area will be at least getting a good amount of rain and wind.

It was minimal rain but a day and a half of gusty wind here in Orlando. The Atlantic coast towns got a lot of rain. Up North, it's gonna be much more when it's onshore and mixes with the front pushing through. I wish everyone good luck...stay home and cross your fingers the power outages aren't widespread.

Late October is only 5+ weeks removed from summer and this year's hot season here in Central Florida lingered on until last week. The official end of hurricane season is November 30 and we have had named storms in the past as late as that. They're usually tropical storm force (<74 mph winds) occuring that late.

I grew up on Long Island and used to surf - along the whole south shore of the island. We'd be thrilled if a storm came along and left 6-8ft waves for a few days after the storm passed - lol. Now they say there will be 20 foot waves on the south shore of Long Island during the storm - so maybe 10+ feet afterwards. Any lucky Long Island surfers on TT looking forward to some great waves later this week once the storm moves through? I moved away many years ago but wish I could see what it will be like there surf-wise.

That's because the "pocket" of late October higher water temperature necessary to foster a storm is limited to the Atlantic/Caribbean waters between Cuba and the South American coast...exactly where Sandy formed. That she continued on a path parallel with the Eastern Seaboard is the quirky anomaly...they usually hit land and break up.

As the mean water temperatures continue to rise, continue to expect storms later in the year...that "pocket" will expand as seawater temps rise.

September is the peak month here so obviously August and October are the next 2 highest months for storms. Ocean temperatures lag air temperatures which is why the peak hurricane season does not align itself with meteorological summer which spans from June to August technically. Summer here down in Florida can sometimes extend until the end of October but normally we get our first cool blast in the first week or two of October. See the graph below:

Just walked to 7-11 on 34th street...no big whoop, got a sausage muffin blobb and a large coffee...saw a guy wearing Breathe 2K10 McnEnroes. I put lead tape on my umbrella at 3 and 9 to counter balance the wind.

That's because the "pocket" of late October higher water temperature necessary to foster a storm is limited to the Atlantic/Caribbean waters between Cuba and the South American coast...exactly where Sandy formed. That she continued on a path parallel with the Eastern Seaboard is the quirky anomaly...they usually hit land and break up.

As the mean water temperatures continue to rise, continue to expect storms later in the year...that "pocket" will expand as seawater temps rise.

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that the hurricane is sucking this heat out of the ocean and turning it onto the USA. It is also churning cooler water from below. This pocket of heat should be mostly erased by the time the storm is done.

Track direction and curvature
From a location well offshore at a latitude of 35°-40°N the storm turns to the northwestward to strike the US mid-Atlantic coast. There is no precedent in hurricane records extending back to 1851 of a storm at this latitude taking this path. All historical hurricanes located well offshore at this latitude have followed the jet stream and tracked in a direction between north and east.

Relative strength
Its strength for a hurricane striking the US mid-Atlantic coast in late October (which is near the end of the hurricane season).
Sandy's central pressure is currently forecast to be 945-950mb at landfall late on Monday. A pressure this low would exceed the previous record low pressure of 955mb for a hurricane landfall in this region at this time of year. It would also be close to the record low pressure of 946mb for any hurricane landfall north of Cape Hatteras; this record-holder being the 'New England' hurricane which occurred in September 1938.

Anyone still left with their head in the Sand(y) need only watch the great documentary "Chasing Ice" to confirm the undeniable, inconvenient truth about climate change. There's a trailer for it on YouTube!

September is the peak month here so obviously August and October are the next 2 highest months for storms. Ocean temperatures lag air temperatures which is why the peak hurricane season does not align itself with meteorological summer which spans from June to August technically. Summer here down in Florida can sometimes extend until the end of October but normally we get our first cool blast in the first week or two of October. See the graph below:

Click to expand...

Is this graph for Florida or for the Northeast coast and where did you find it??

Atlantic City is now the Venice of New Jersey. A lot of shore areas are going to be flooded, no way around that.

I have friends that live right on Long Island Sound. Bad place to be right now.

This storm is later than most but still within the traditional confines of hurricane season. 6/1 through 11/30.
A combination of factors involved including Arctic air exacerbated this particular storm.

Would not want to be the insurance company for the crane operator who left the crane up in Manhattan.

^^ Portable generators suffer greatly from the lack of a cooling system. A fellow in Rockland County NY had a generator going in his garage following last Halloween's snow storm, the thing overheated and incinerated his car.

Bldg on 8th just collapsed, fire engines are going crazy right now, sirens everywhere...just walked outside on 34th and its madness...went into Duane Reade and bought Lindt 99% chocolate and some beef jerky blocks.

We have 6,000 servers at the largest Data Center in the Eastern Region and they just informed me that they lost an incoming power feed and are on generator power for the next 24 hours, after that no Tubes or Internets.

We have 6,000 servers at the largest Data Center in the Eastern Region and they just informed me that they lost an incoming power feed and are on generator power for the next 24 hours, after that no Tubes or Internets.